Physiological variables, psychosocial factors and age at menarche among Punjabi girls

The term menarche signifying the onset of menstruation is merely one manifestation of puberty. The age at menarche has been getting earlier all over the world with varying rates. An average decline of about 4 months per decade has been reported from the United States and in Western Europe over the period 1830-1960, while that in Eastern Europe since the late nineteenth century. There have been reports that there is a fairly good correlation between the age of menarche of mothers' and their daughters'. The objective of this study was to find out the present age at menarche among Punjabi girls and correlate it with relevant variables. The age at menarche in the present study has been found to be significantly less as compared to data from the same region (Punjab, India). The decline in the mean age at menarche between the mothers and the daughters was statistically highly significant. There was a positive correlation between menarche and weight, height, triceps skinfold thickness, body mass index and maternal age at menarche. No significant correlation was obtained between menarche and income class and a negative correlation was obtained between menarche and birth order.